First Impressions
by Clu Dillinger
Summary: During the eighth year of Captain Pike's command of Enterprise, Spock developed his skills as a first officer. Uhura was a first year cadet, and had the opportunity to work with Spock before her commission. Some people were destined to serve shoulder to shoulder. This is how their story began... or at least my version of it.


The Kandari Sector finally came up during the command briefing, and Captain Pike seemed uneasy with the prospect of returning to that end of space. It had been eight years since the incident on Rigel VII, but the memory remained agonizing. Spock knew Pike's conscience would never give him peace. People died under his command, and no captain can justly forgive themselves when they have any semblance of a soul. But duty always kept Pike focused.

Spock directed the briefing. The mission was to discover what happened to several offline communication relay stations and bring them back online; nothing terribly daunting but it would bring them into long range orbit of Rigel VII. Captain Pike kept his eyes directed toward the mission display on his pad, never looking up to acknowledge Commander Spock. When the briefing was concluded, Spock and Pike remained after the other senior staff departed.

"Captain, I understand a cadet training team will be joining us for this mission," said Spock pausing to sit next to the captain.

"Was that a question, Spock?" blurted Pike, finally bringing his eyes up from the display pad.

"No. My question is why did you authorize first year cadets to join us? At this stage they require significant supervision and coaching. Training closer to the academy and its staff seems more prudent."

"Prudent?" Pike asked a little perplexed. "Well I'm sorry you don't approve commander but this isn't too far from the academy at all. Commodore April recommended the academy accelerate their field training, so I told him we'd be happy to help out. Our officers are more than competent to supervise the new fish."

Spock arched his eyebrow. "New fish?"

Pike sighed with a smile. "Uh yes, new fish. It's old twentieth century slang."

Spock nodded. "Of course." It was different for Spock to deal with Pike in this capacity. Commander Robbins (aka Number One) typically had these sorts of conversations with the Captain, but now he was first officer and had to develop another facet to his relationship with Pike. He always learned quickly though.

The captain stood and stretched. He looked at Spock and could see similarities between him and 'Number One'. _She would have voiced the same concerns_ he thought. "I understand your worries Spock. That's why I want you to handle these cadets personally."

Spock paused, confused by the order. "Captain, aside from the fact that I don't ever 'worry', do you feel being minder to first year cadets is the best use of my time?"

"Well… yes. You have a lot to teach them. I trust you to guide them better than anyone."

"While I am confident in my abilities as an instructor, the functions of the ship and its crew require my complete attention."

Pike stared at Spock, his mild annoyance unmistakable. He knew how Spock could be over the years, but now that he was first officer he had to deal with an extra layer of directness. _It has to be a Vulcan thing_, he thought. _This is going to take some getting used to._ "Relax Spock. We aren't patrolling the neutral zone. You should be able to fulfill your roll and handle five cadets. Not to mention you'll have others to help out. Okay?"

"Yes, Captain." Spock pressed the issue no further, seeing no logical argument alternative. Once the captain was set on something, there was little to be done to sway him. He'd make better use of his energies preparing himself for the cadets, who were set to arrive in twelve hours.

Spock returned to his quarters and pulled up the personnel records of the five trainees. There were four men and one woman. He reviewed their test scores and found four of the five of them adequate but unremarkable. One of them showed real promise. Though the scores could provide some insight, he didn't expect the records to contain enough actionable information. _These cadets only have eight months, three weeks, two days, eleven hours, and fifteen point three five minutes of materials to review since they started the academy_. _This is not sufficient to form an accurate opinion_.

Richard Samuel and Kyle Dawson were research assistants before joining Starfleet to become computer engineers. Carlos Vega was a history student who wanted to be a communications officer and loved the idea of traveling the stars. Gary Wilcox worked in agriculture and joined the communication sciences division. Spock was curious about the female cadet from the communication sciences division who could speak several languages. This was quite a feat in an era of universal translation technology. Nyota Uhura was an athlete, a collector of African artifacts, and a well regarded singer. Spock was intrigued by what gifts and challenges these cadets would have.

Captain Pike and Commander Spock were on the bridge when communications came through from the USS Farragut. First Officer James Kirk briefly spoke to the captain and confirmed the rendezvous. The Enterprise and Farragut came out of warp within seconds of each other on the outer edge of the Rigelian system. Both ships maneuvered and matched course parallel to each other.

Spock headed down to the transporter room to greet the cadets. The energy hum of the transporter preceded the glow of particles as five people materialized on the platform, their belongings at their feet. He opened a comm.-channel to the bridge. "The cadets are on board captain."

"Good."

Spock stepped out from behind the transporter console. "Welcome aboard."

The five cadets looked quite nervous as Spock and Yeoman Colt took them on a brief tour of the ship on the way to their quarters. Colt did most of the talking, familiarizing them with the various departments. When they arrived at the crew quarters deck, Spock motioned for them to gather close.

"Before you, lay a great opportunity. An opportunity not only to apply what you have learned thus far at the academy, but to learn how to work with others in a real mission environment. The briefing for the mission is in your quarters. Communication relays are critical for transmitting volumes of data and establishing real-time connections with Federation settlements. I order you to thoroughly study the details. Be prepared to present solutions when we begin our approach to relay Q32, which will be the first of seven."

"Sir?" asked Gary Wilcox, raising his hand as if in a classroom.

"Yes, Cadet?"

"Will there be any real danger?"

Spock gazed carefully at Gary, making him visibly nervous. "What part of 'real mission environment' did you not understand?"

Gary sighed and smiled in an attempt to lighten the mood, but Spock was not interested. "Well you know… we've never been on a real mission. I want to be a communications officer, so I imagined that being on the bridge of a starship not on away missions. I just wanted to know if we're getting thrown into the deep end of the pool."

Spock raised his eyebrow. "'The deep end of the pool.' A metaphor for being exposed to great difficulty immediately rather than gradually as a teaching tool. I have a more accurate metaphor. We are teaching you to swim in murky water. Neither are you able to see the depth or inhabitants of the water, if any. This will teach you to react to the unknown. Missions in Starfleet are never routine and never free from danger. We have selected a mission that has a reduced the likelihood of extreme danger, but extreme dangers nonetheless are always possible. Now do you understand?"

Gary nodded with a subtle look of dread on his face. The others with the exception of Uhura looked quite worried also. Not her. She stood in front of Spock with a look that conveyed an inner calm and fortitude, all without a word being spoken. Spock took note.

"We will meet at 0800 hours at conference room twelve. Please get sufficient sleep. Make use of the cafeteria and see the doctor if you have any complaints. Dismissed." Spock departed.

The four male cadets sighed when he was out of sight and voiced their discomfort. Gary was the most vocal about his anguish toward away missions, but the others seemed to agree to some extent. Uhura seemed to be the only one unfazed by Mr. Spock or what he said.

Yeoman Colt smiled. "He's never very cheerful, so don't take anything he said too harshly."

"The truth is the truth, nothing harsh about that," Uhura said, a polite smile across her face.

Gary turned to Uhura bewildered. "Look, I signed up with Starfleet to practice communications science, not to get blown out the airlock on some derelict base or attacked by Klingons on a backwater planet."

She shook her head and slightly chuckled. "You obviously don't read the case studies for class Gary. Jonathan Archer's missions are required reading. Did you read any of them?"

"I can't be bothered with all that," Gary said with a perturbed look.

Yeoman Colt excused herself. "You all have a lot to think about before tomorrow, so rest up. Remember to read the mission profile in your rooms."

The five of them spoke in the hallway for about ten minutes. Uhura was always the voice of reason amongst them. The four men in the group went on about how much they disliked Spock from the onset. Uhura found Spock curious and rather different from other Starfleet personnel she had dealt with. She found his directness refreshing, specifically because she could also be quite direct when she needed to be.

She calmed their fears as much as possible. The five went to the cafeteria to eat and then returned to their quarters. The hours before a mission were nerve-racking, especially for rookies, so sleep was elusive for them all.

Uhura went over the mission several times. She was always meticulous in her preparations for everything she did. Taking a shower helped her think on occasions like this, so she took a long one. Walking to her desk wearing a bath towel, Uhura began scrolling through the details of the mission again. Something in the details of how these relay stations went bad bothered her.

This was not the first time this grouping of relays went down according to the ship's database. On two other occasions, ionized particle storms knocked out these systems, so there was no reason to suspect this situation was different. Yet, the telemetry did not read the same as the other cases. Other types of analysis at the relays would need to be done, but it did not sit well with her. The Q32 relay awaited.

Spock arrived at conference room twelve ten minutes early to find Uhura inside reading the data for the mission, sitting quietly. She didn't seem to notice Spock's arrival. The commander approached and sat at the head of the conference table, Uhura sitting to his right. Spock placed his data pads on the table. "Good morning cadet Uhura."

She broke away from her reading and looked at the commander, her mind still preoccupied with the mission content. "Good morning Sir," she replied and briskly returned to reading the material.

"I presume this is the first time you've…"

"No, this is the sixteenth time I've reviewed the mission details Commander Spock," Uhura whimsically cut him off before he could complete his sentence. She looked up from her data pad. "That is what you presumed right? That I was just reading the mission for the first time?" she questioned with a capricious grin.

He knew it was true. He didn't think she did the reading the night before. _Why would you need to read the material again just before the briefing? Ah yes, human retention is not akin to my own._ Spock knew he ought not to have jumped to that conclusion, but he couldn't allow her to undermine him. "Now you are the one presuming."

"But am I right, Sir?" her smile giving away her delight. _I shouldn't jest with him, but I can't help myself. He's too easy_. It didn't take long for Uhura to realize that joking around with Spock might not help her career. Vulcans were known to give unflinching analyses of performance, so it would be best not to idle on humor.

He paused for what seemed like an endless moment. _She is sharp_ he thought. _I have to redirect the conversation_. "I am pleased that you are being so thorough with your review. Have you discovered anything useful for the mission?"

"Yes, I have." Uhura moved her chair closer to his, as she placed her pad in front of him. The fragrance she was wearing was quite pleasant Spock felt, but he needed to focus. "Look at some of these data sets and look at the same sets from the last two occurrences when the relay system went down."

Spock assimilated the details she was presenting. It was peculiar. "This is noteworthy, but inconclusive. What other anomaly could create these sorts of patterns? I can name three based on my own knowledge base."

Uhura sat pensive for a moment. "I know which natural occurrences you're talking about, but two of those don't impact this part of the sector. And the other one hasn't been sighted in two hundred years. Deliberate interference is the more likely scenario."

The commander looked off, deep in thought. _She knew I would cite those three events before this conversation started_. A great ability in a future Starfleet officer is the insight to predict. "We would need to assess the 'who' and 'why'. Who would tamper with our systems? And why would they do so?"

"I don't know the 'who' commander, but these seem deliberate to me, as if some other form of communication is piggybacking off our relays. It could be sabotage, it could be intelligence gathering, or all the above. " Uhura carefully took Spock through her notes, each point carefully examined and compared. He could not have calculated that she would spend so much time piecing this together, but she did so in a very logical way.

"The prospect is Intriguing, but again this is merely conjecture. When we inspect Q32, we will be able to pull the spectral data and the onboard recorder to form a complete analysis. I commend you on putting forward a reasonable hypothesis cadet."

She sighed in disappointment, but she knew he was correct. "Yes, Sir. I just wanted to help."

"All prospective Starfleet officers need to be problem solvers. Never stop forming hypotheses. We have not ruled out your theory, we simply need more evidence." Spock was impressed. He reviewed the data himself prior to her arrival on Enterprise and composed the mission brief, but he did not deduce what she discovered in one night. Based on her intuition, he made up his mind to bring additional security when boarding the Q32 relay.

Uhura smiled at him with a look of determination. "Well then Commander Spock, we have our work cut out for us."

_Why does she smile at me? She knows it will not affect my evaluation of her performance. I suppose she has another reason for smiling with so little provocation_. She was appealing to him, though that was of no consequence he told himself. He had never carried on a conversation with her before this mission and did not know her well at all, so it would be illogical to find her appealing. And yet, there the inconsistency was. It was unreasonable to form an opinion based only on her profile and one conversation, even as aesthetically pleasing as he found her. He dismissed this impulse.

The others arrived and Spock started the briefing. A few minutes in, he motioned to Uhura. "Cadet, please present some of your analysis for the team." He sat down to allow her the opportunity to speak.

She was stunned. _I can't believe he's doing this_. Uhura locked eyes with him. There was much more to him than the stereotypes so many tried to label Vulcans with she pondered. _My friends would think I'm crazy, but I like him_. _Oh god, you need to stop and get focused right now girl!_

Uhura slowly rose to her feet. After starting off somewhat tongue tied, she skillfully conveyed her analysis for the team and idea that the systems were tampered with deliberately. Spock looked on, not missing any of her movements, as she cleverly displayed her expertise. Q32 was less than a day away.

Enterprise began her approach to relay Q32. The cadets, Commander Spock, and several security officers waited in the transporter room for the ship to be in range for beaming. Once enterprise was in range, helm control sent codes to the relay to lower its shields. This took longer than expected, but the shields did come down. Helm control thought it was due to the ion particles disrupting the transmission.

Captain Pike called down to the transporter room. "Spock, our codes didn't take right away because of the ion particles. We need to beam your party two at a time to be safe. Also, we can only beam your team to the station's transporter pad; the interference is too much to read your patterns anywhere else on the relay, so that's your rendezvous. Be sure to give any data transmissions some time to reach us when you get there."

"Acknowledged," replied Spock. He turned to the team. "Let's do our equipment check." The cadets fumbled around nervously. Uhura was nervous also. It took some coaching from the veteran security staff, but the cadets got through the equipment check. The security officers kept the cadets on task, since they had done this routine countless times. Chief Daniel O'Brien had twenty years experience working with trainees and green officers on their first away missions.

Once the equipment check was complete, Uhura raised some concerns to Spock about the information that came from the bridge. "Commander, ion particles would not block that sort of code transmission."

Spock was curious. The sensors were detecting high levels of ion particles, but he did not have time to analyze whether it could obstruct codes to the relay's shield matrix. "Do you think we were being deliberately interfered with?"

"I think it's possible, but it's more likely a side effect of something else."

"Intuition will only serve us so far. We have to have access with the source." Spock directed the team to the transporter pad in twos. He first sent the two most experienced security officers, O'Brien being one of them. Then Spock went across with Uhura. One security officer paired with one cadet was transported to the relay in succession.

Aboard the relay, the buzz and static of the machinery could be heard working vigorously. The lighting was low, as the only illumination was from circuits and some floor lighting, since this place was not built for human habitation. Maintenance was the only reason to have an atmosphere and life support system, but it was minimal. The majority of the relay was composed of antennas, dishes, and arrays. Only the narrow maintenance ring was accessible to organisms without environmental suits.

"Remember what we discussed," Spock instructed. "Use your tricorders and remember your training. Follow the system protocols to isolate and troubleshoot the problems. Stay in contact with relevant findings. Let's begin. Uhura, you are with me."

The team began their work. The pairs branched out in different directions. Samuel, Dawson, and Vega headed toward the relay's computer core. The Gary Wilcox entered the communications amplifiers and circuits section. Uhura and Spock activated their tricorders as they approached the main control systems.

The first thirty minutes of scans proved unrevealing. Each of the cadets reported via communicator to Spock with very little useful data. Gary had no useful data yet from his section of the communications circuits. Spock reported back to Pike and had cadets Dawson, Vega and Samuel continue core system diagnostics.

Uhura accessed one of the consoles and began a data upload. "Commander, I'm deciphering some of the binary algorithms now. I should be able to locate anything invasive."

Spock accessed one of the consoles a few feet away from her. "Acknowledged. I am analyzing the ion filtration data to determine levels over the last few days. This should confirm or disconfirm some of your theory."

"Well, I hope you don't think any less of me if it disconfirms some of it."

Spock was puzzled. "Why would I think any less of you?"

Uhura kept her eyes on her work. "Oh… I don't know. Just wanted to get it right." She peered at Spock. "First time out of school, Trying to make an impression."

His first impulse was to lecture her on how illogical her thinking was; how falsification was the basis of science and had no bearing on what he thought of her. But for once, he let his human side show a little. "I'm already impressed."

She looked back at the console. _What was that? I don't know what I should say. _"Thank you Sir."

It was not until forty five minutes into their investigation that the first alarming information came from the cadets troubleshooting the main computer. The core was locking out their permissions.

"Power fluctuations are high," said Spock. He knew that was not characteristic of ion based distortions. Something else was at work. "What are you picking up, Uhura?"

"Mr. Spock, these circuits seem to be operating under normal guidance thresholds for communication systems," Uhura answered, concern not concealed in her tone. "Ion saturated damage would be prevalent if this followed the normal case study." She looked at him alarmed.

Spock maintained his typically stoic demeanor. He pulled out his communicator to report to Pike, when he heard something scurry. Uhura saw it too. The line was open, but Spock did not speak.

"Spock, are you reporting... Spock?" Pike could be heard over the communicator, but Spock still did not answer.

He drew his phaser. "Captain, standby."

"Acknowledged."

Spock put away his communicator and motioned to Uhura, keeping his phaser at the ready. "Set you tricorder for active search… wide field," ordered Spock

She did as commanded. Whatever it was, it was giving off a slight electromagnetic pulse. She located it and pointed toward a small space. "It's in that cable trunking."

Just as Spock aimed his weapon at the conduit, phaser fire erupted elsewhere on the station. Communications chatter exploded with yelling, and before Spock could reach for his communicator whatever was in the conduit leaped out at him.

"SPOCK!" Uhura screamed.

The thing was some sort of machine with light emitting features and a dozen piercing tendrils. Visible electric currents were pulsating from it as it went airborne at Spock. His reflexes were quick, as he dodged to the left and it flew over him. He fired his phaser, striking it. It fell limp to the ground and the pulsing lights died.

Uhura barely could catch her breath as she caught sight of another one scampering quickly out of view. "I just saw another one!"

"Are you injured?" Spock asked her.

"I'm fine. And you?" She asked catching her breath.

"I am uninjured," he said while activating his communicator. "Report?"

Chief O'Brien came online. "Sir, we were attacked by some sort of robot. I am rallying all personnel to the rendezvous point. What are your orders?"

"Casualties?"

"Yes, one of those young guys got burned but he seems okay."

Carlos Vega cut in, out of breath and panting. "Sir, those things looked like leeches, all connected into the computers. I could read surges in the system. They didn't seem to like the tricorder."

"Everyone is to report to the rendezvous and await my orders. Spock out." He looked toward Uhura. She was scanning the destroyed machine on the ground, taking readings while keeping her other eye out for the machine ran past earlier. "Uhura, take out your phaser!"

She stood back and drew her phaser as ordered. "Sir, I think I've got something."

"Standby Uhura," Spock called Enterprise. "Captain, we have a serious problem."

"Go ahead Spock," responded Pike.

"I think we have an intrusive intelligence that is responsible for taking down this relay as cadet Uhura theorized. We have a specimen. We need to return the team to Enterprise right away."

"Agreed, Spock. We will start beam out two at a time. Is your team at the designated beam out area?"

"All except myself and cadet Uhura."

"Get there now, Commander! Pike out."

"Acknowledged," he answered and put away his communicator. Spock picked up the destroyed robot. "Uhura, we have to go now."

"Spock, I think I know how to disable these machines."

His first instinct was to override her and get them to the rendezvous as ordered. But he was intrigued, and her intellect was stimulating to him. It was only logical to hear her out. "Explain."

Uhura took a second to calm herself. In a very short time, she grew to respect Spock and knew she had to be clear and sober to explain herself properly. _Okay, here goes_. "These machines are using a specific carrier waveform. Extrapolating from their commands, they seem to use a root structure familiar to me. It's basically a language I've studied. It's similar to coded transmissions I've learned based on clandestine communications theory…"

"Uhura, time is of the essence. You said you could disable these machines. How?"

"If I could get to the communication core circuit, I can command them to go to sleep!"

_Fascinating_, he thought. It would take a couple of minutes to get to that circuit, but it was worth it to salvage this station. This was logical. "Proceed."

Uhura nodded quickly and then motioned. "This way, Sir."

The transporting was underway. Pike called Dr. Boyce and told him to expect patients. The captain paced the bridge anxiously. He made several attempts to contact Spock after all the transporting was complete when neither he nor Uhura showed up at the rendezvous site. A high energy field went up a few minutes after the last man was transported out, and no transmissions got through after that.

"Chief," Pike called to O'Brien from the bridge. "Did Commander Spock or the cadet speak to you at all prior to the start of transporting?"

"No, sir. I didn't hear anything after his order for us to meet at the rendezvous."

"Very well," he answered as he switched off the communicator. "Mr. Yardis," he called to the officer at the sensors station. "This might be a shot in the dark, but push our detection grid to maximum. Maybe we can get a lock to transport them out."

"Aye Sir," replied the sensors officer. He pushed the systems as far as he could, but rather than picking up their patterns, he picked up a core overload counting down. "Sir, the array is going to self destruct in twenty seconds."

"WHAT?" Pike yelled in disbelief. He ran to the sensors console, not believing it. The countdown was at two seconds when it stopped as abruptly as it started. "What just happened?"

"Sir, Spock is hailing," announced the helmsman.

Pike sighed and then smiled in mixture of anger and relief. "Spock! What the hell happened over there?"

"Captain, I think it might be more productive to beam us over for debriefing. Cadet Uhura disabled the invasive machines. We have numerous specimens for examination."

Pike paused a second. "Uhura?"

"Yes, Sir. You heard correctly."

Pike chuckled. "Well, I have to thank this cadet in person."

Uhura liked this ship. She even liked the room she was given. _Maybe, one day_. This training mission was more than any of the cadets had bargained for. Gary got burned on exposed wiring when they were attacked, but nothing more serious thankfully. She wondered what they stumbled onto, and what its mission was. Perhaps when she became an officer she might find out, but not now. For now it was back to the academy.

Her door chime rang. "Come in."

Spock emerged, his hands clasped behind his back as was typical. "Cadet."

"Hello, Commander Spock," she said with a charming smile. "Thanks for inviting me to dinner with you and the captain last night. The food was delicious. This was a great experience."

"You will have many other valuable experiences during your career in Starfleet."

"I hope so. Are we going to find out what those machines were? I wish I was cleared to study them."

"The Enterprise doesn't have the proper facilities to fully analyze the robots, but perhaps one day you'll have an opportunity to revisit this assignment."

She shook her head reluctantly. "Well, maybe my future missions will give me more excitement than I know what to do with."

He slowly walked toward her. His face was strangely softened in a very subtle way, not so icy or analytical. "You do realize that missions can be remarkably uneventful? I don't wish to raise your expectations for adventures and 'close calls' too much."

"Why Mr. Spock, are you kidding around with me a little?" she asked in a flirty way.

Spock raised his eye brow and swayed in an almost playful manner, or playful as 'Vulcans go' one might say. "The academy will keep you occupied for some time. You have Three years, one month…"

Uhura gave him a sharp look. "The short version please. It feels like a prison sentence when you say it like that."

Spock paused. "You have some years before graduation, but I know you are going to be a fine officer. I have recommended a special commendation for you. What you did aboard the Q32 relay was outstanding."

She loved his eyes, the way he peered into hers. Uhura was not one to allow herself to get carried away, but she didn't mind him knowing that she liked him. _Alas, nothing can happen between us_ she thought. "Thank you for your vote of confidence. I've learned a great deal working with you. Perhaps we'll have the opportunity to work together again."

Spock nodded his head approvingly. "That would be most agreeable."

Uhura picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Well, I guess this is goodbye… for the present?"

He looked at her for several seconds. Spock wanted to see her again. She was capable, talented, and courageous. She had other qualities he would never forget as well. "Yes, goodbye Uhura… for the present. Live long and prosper."

FIRST OFFICERS LOG

STAR DATE

I had the opportunity and privilege of working with a most remarkable cadet. I have put in a request that she be given commission aboard the USS Enterprise as our Communications officer upon her graduation from the academy. During our first encounter…

THE END.


End file.
